Reaction: Powell on Blackburn defeat

Blues boss Chris Powell was left disappointed after his Southend side put in a dogged performance against Blackburn Rovers but came away from Ewood Park empty-handed.

Danny Graham’s second-half header was all that separated the two sides with Southend feeling they should have had a penalty in injury time for a late challenge on Simon Cox.

After the game, Powell spoke to the media to give us his thoughts on a Southend performance that he described as “befitting of a side that’s higher in the league.”

On the Blackburn defeat…

I thought we should have got something today. I thought our performance, from start to finish, was befitting of a side that’s higher in the league.

They’re a good side and they look like dead certs to go up, but our game plan was good and we grew into the game. I thought the way we went about it, the changes we made, the change of shape; they really took to it and we really took the game to them.

I think we were all disappointed in our last trip away against Plymouth. I felt my team wasn’t there and I said to the players afterwards that wasn’t my team out there. There was a great response on Monday [against Gillingham] but the true acid test is coming to the league leaders and performing, and we certainly did that.

We’re little old Southend against a side that used to win the Premier League. We did perform today and that’s pleasing as a manager. I don’t like losing but there’s a lot to like about what we did today; how we took the game to them and hopefully that’ll help us moving forward for the remaining five games but for my plans for next year as well.

On Cox’s penalty shout…

I’m standing here now wondering how we didn’t get a point at least. Not only was there a goalmouth scramble, which was crazy enough, but I thought there was a penalty in there.

I’ve seen it now and I know a lot of manager’s say they haven’t seen it when they have. I’ve seen it; why would he [Cox] go down in the six-yard area?

He got a push but sometimes they go for you, other times they don’t.

On the travelling Blues fans…

It was good support for us, I mean tremendous. When I looked in the corner I thought, are they our fans or Blackburn’s?

I’m sure they would have liked a point or three but I’m sure they’ll go home thinking that was a performance from our team, and I’m certainly thinking that way.

Hopefully, we’ll recover right and we go to Oxford next week, which I’m sure many of our fans will turn out for, and we’ve got to put out an equal performance, if not better.